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To introduce a commemorative collection of articles by colleagues and former students of the late Professor Ross Davies, a leading UK academic in the field of retail management.

Outlines the development of Ross Davies' career and enumerates his particular contributions to the development of academic studies of retailing. Summarises the objectives of each paper in the collection.

The paper identifies the link between the authors of papers and Professor Davies' work.

Demonstrates the ways in which an academic was able to relate sound scholarship to the practical needs of retailers, service companies and public sector agencies.

Controversy and well‐argued differences of opinion are the hallmarks of a successful conference, and these were certainly evident at RMDP's second conference on “Techniques for Shop Location”, held in London in June. Attended by nearly 200 delegates, this one‐day event emphasised the practical application of increasingly sophisticated locational techniques, especially those “friendly” to personal computers. But debating points quickly arose. Ross Davies, from the chair, argued that local authorities have become more supportive to superstore development, but this was questioned by Asda's David Gransby. The superstore developer thinks that retail use should be defined geographically; convenience shopping out of town allows the High Street to thrive on comparison stores. But planning economist Peter Jones thinks that some existing centres must be allowed to decline in favour of innovative developments elsewhere, such as combinations of superstores, warehouses and factories. David Powell, setting his arguments against a wide social and political background, took the view that the government should take positive steps to encourage retailers to locate in depressed regions and inner cities, thus creating change in current locational policies. But one delegate thought that government intervention would prove restrictive. Mike Poynor of the CDT, representing RDM at the conference, outlines the points of agreement and the differences.

To set out the discussions surrounding the development of retail planning policy in the UK over a 20 year period, and the consequences for shoppers, retailers and developers.

Examines the role of government, retailers and other stakeholders – including the Oxford Retail Group – in the development of planning policy guidelines, from the point of view of the experience of a major UK retailer, the John Lewis Partnership, during the period.

Emphasises the importance of co‐ordination and trust between partners and consistency and continuity in retail planning policy if major retail development projects are to be brought to fruition.

Sets out the roles and responsibilities of retail planning from the perspective of a senior practitioner actively involved during the period.

Despite, or perhaps even because of, the economic uncertainties of the period, the 1970s witnessed a radical transformation of the British distributive system. Most of the changes which occurred were similar to those experienced elsewhere in the Western world, and in a review of developments in EEC countries, Dawson has suggested that the impact of these changes on society could be similar to that produced by the Industrial Revolution. In Britain at least, the changes in distribution were, and remain, a result of very marked changes in society: most notably the change in consumption patterns brought about by endemic inflation, increasing unemployment and periodic world energy crises. The result has been increased competition, a search for greater efficiency and diversification of traditional product lines. Thus the British distribution system throughout the 1970s was dominated by the trend to mass merchandising, by the emergence of large firms and a consequent increase of corporate power and by the appearance of new distribution forms. While many of the conditions and developments experienced in the 1970s are expected to continue into the 1980s, it has been predicted (Distributive Industry Training Board 1980) that by the 1990s further revolutionary changes are likely to have occurred, particularly as a result of widespread automation involving new technology. The industry is, therefore, in the middle of a period of very rapid change.

Changes in the retail environment over the last ten years or so have been dramatic. Principally they include increased concentration in the major retail companies, new outlets and new formats, and a whole range of changing market conditions which include changes in population, in age structure, in households, and of course in the consumer. All these are well described in a new publication coming from the Oxford Institute of Retail Management, Change In the Retail Environment, by Elizabeth Howard and Ross Davies. The report is not about the wider aspects of social and economic change, except in so far as these relate to changing consumer demands and levels of spending. Essentially the report brings together aspects of work on industrial strategy, population change, consumer behaviour and urban development with research on the nature of shopping centres and store development.

The purpose of the paper is to evaluate the development, role and management of quarters in UK cities.

A case study based on Manchester's Northern Quarter, using secondary documentary materials and semi‐structured interviews with urban managers and residents of the Quarter.

The emergence of the Northern Quarter is a relatively recent phenomenon, with small scale cultural industries and artists moving into take advantage of cheap property following the collapse of the area's economic base in the 1970s. Its branding was a development of the 1990s, set within the wider context of the marketing of the city as a whole. The area has regenerated, but its idiosyncratic character is continuously under pressure from developers and the demands of corporate retailing/leisure, from which it needs to be protected as far as possible. It is not an appropriate area for a business improvement district, but rather needs treating as an eco‐system and allowed to develop under its own momentum.

This is a single case study, which would merit duplication in other cities.

The paper suggests that “real” quarters are essentially organic in their origins, and cannot be planned or managed in a top‐down way. The serial replication of artificial quarters will not assist the differentiation of localities in increasingly competitive place markets.

The paper will be of interest to students and practitioners of urban place management.

Since the first Volume of this Bibliography there has been an explosion of literature in all the main areas of business. The researcher and librarian have to be able to uncover specific articles devoted to certain topics. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume III, in addition to the annotated list of articles as the two previous volumes, contains further features to help the reader. Each entry within has been indexed according to the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus and thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid information retrieval. Each article has its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. The first Volume of the Bibliography covered seven journals published by MCB University Press. This Volume now indexes 25 journals, indicating the greater depth, coverage and expansion of the subject areas concerned.

With increased competition and a radically changing retail environment, the quality and effectiveness of managers in retailing is assuming ever greater importance. Management development programmes play a significant part in this, not least at the new Institute of Retail Management at Templeton College, Oxford, where teaching and research programmes specifically oriented to the retail sector are being established. It claims to be the first such educational centre in Britain catering specifically to the post‐experience needs of retailers.

In 1984 the building of Metro Centre in Gateshead got underway, and since it opened it has attracted a great deal of comment. Meadowhall in Sheffield is due to open in 1990; it will be the centre of attention for retailers, developers, local authority planners, and most of all, shoppers in the region around. This paper looks at how successful Metro has been, and the prospects for Meadowhall.

The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.